ahh Mr. Jake buddy.. When i first started playing this game I was using a 512mb machine and I got it to run fairly smooth. Let me see if I can have a whack at it; I used to have a horrendous meter before I was forced to do this research here...
1. I went to Tools and took off the extra Java Consoles I had enabled with were 6 at the time. This is not needed for most sites but if so they will tell you to activate it. I choose to google the process on getting rid of the extra Java Console plugins and kept the recent one. But still keep it disabled most of the time.
2.Got rid of any non-needed extensions and added Adblock to stop the ads. With this I erased all cookies and went to WGT to reload cookies back on. But after surfing 2 pages on this site I then hit block all 3rd party cookies. So I would not gather any other nonWGT cookies. Because I have noticed that some cookies especially from ads make my meter skip? Don't know why but Cookies are my nemesis on here. Only keep what is needed. This way i have the cookies needed to play the game and do not recieve any more into the cookies cache. Let me know if you follow me here....
3. Ran a Plug in check through Mozilla to make sure all plug ins are good to go. Then disabled all non WGT needed plug ins. Like Facebook, silver light, Java,Microsoft DRM, Quick time, Windows Presentation can be disabled also if your having meter issues it may help....
4. I also did research into the Microsoft .net Framework, DRM plugins and Windows Presentation Plugins. The short answer about these is you do need them. But you may not have the latest update for them. So check into that through Microsoft.com and make sure they are up to date.
5.In Adobe Flash Player Settings manager make sure both boxes are checked. In the Flash cache I erase all other non WGT websites like Youtube or POG etc... I only keep media5WGT in this when I come on to play. I also go to Website Storage Settings and let WGT get unlimited space to save on my machine. I just move the marker all the way right to unlimited.
6.I have to express my thoughts on this subject. Because this is my main culprit for a stuttering meter: Keep only cookies to play the site . So I make sure to only keep the ones you need. Here is a list of the cookies i keep. This way you can check with what Im using for a smooth meter: Adnxs.com - adobe.com - doubleclick.net - imrworldwide.com - invitemedia.com - macromedia.com - quantserve.com - scorecardresearch.com - wgt.com - www.wgt.com. Whenever I happen to have a meter surge this is the first place i go. Because Cookies sometimes sneak on. And 9 outta 10 times it because a cookies has entered here and is giving me issues. Never fails for me.
7. Make sure everything including Browser and Anti-virus is up to date. I use AVG free along with Advanced System Care. With the Advanced system care Toolbox (included) if has a start up manager so you can see what processes are running in the back ground. You can choose to stop or delay any of these programs from running . I stopped 4 myself - Java console was stopped :)
8.You can also go to the START Menu and hit control panel/Performance and Maintenance/System/ hardware/ then device manager; Run a scan to make sure all drivers are up to date. I had a couple past due...
9. Also try SMART DEFRAG.. I also run this once a week to keep my registry and system clean of build up.
If I can remember what else I may have done I will write it here. But after 6months of reading and playing with different things; I do believe these are the steps that gave me a pretty smooth meter. Im no computer whiz. I did do my research on the subject. But now I also use Chrome; So try these and also try Chrome afterwards.. Foxfire runs ok for me now also; but with firefox I still get the occasional skip. With Chrome I hardly ever have an issue ...... Hope this can shed some light on you situation Jake!! Any questions just drop me a line.
Ox